Garage Sale Mysteries (TV Series) Garage Sale Mystery: The Wedding Dress (2015) User Reviews

The fourth is the series and everything is finally coming together.

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 6 June 2023]

This is the fourth film in Hallmark's Garage Sale Mystery series and I think the series is finally hitting it's stride. I still miss both the original actors who played the husband and the daughter...especially the daughter, having trouble warming up to Eva Bourne in that role. Also...they rolled back the time on the daughter, she is now a junior in college again, no mention of the detective boyfriend from the first film or law school, but she has a current boyfriend who is also a junior in college...and they are serious. She seems to be floundering a bit and working in her mom's shop. I do like Steve Bacic, the actor who plays the husband currently, he is a great actor and I particularly liked him in the end of this film.

No appearance by their son in this episode who is at a camp of some kind. The domestic conflict is all about Jennifer and Jason's anniversary, which she thinks he has forgotten...and the mystery revolves around a designer wedding dress that Jennifer and Dani pick up at an estate sale. It ends up being connected to a decades old missing person cold case. Of course, once Jennifer's interest is peaked there is no stopping her!

"The police have a saying...no body, no crime."-Detective Frank Lynwood

I appreciated that in this case there were no malevolent characters...that was kind of refreshing. Jennifer has made friends with the local medical examiner Tramell...who loves his puns almost as much as Jennifer and is still good friends with Frank, aka Detective Lynwood. Frank, on his lunch breaks, is helpful but not encouraging of Jennifer's extracurricular sleuthing in this case of a debutant wedding where the groom goes missing after the vows and pictures, but before the reception!

It was wonderful to see Cheryl Ladd, who is as gorgeous and elegant as ever, in her role as the abandoned bride Helen Whitney Carter.

"You know what happens in these big houses at 4pm? Tea! It almost makes paying the property taxes worthwhile."-Helen

I like the mature characters and the family dynamic in this cosy mystery series. Happily married and mentally healthy core. I like the best friend Dani being quirky, new age-y, vintage clothes wearing, healthful eating oriented and still searching for her special someone...and just answers to life. She seems a good fit for the show and for an antique shop, making a wonderful foil for Jennifer. But the thing I like the most about the series is the antiques! I love seeing slag lamps in the backgrounds of the scenes and hearing about them selling a Bakelite backgammon set. This makes the series really work for me.

This was a decent mystery and an excellent cosy mystery...fans will not be disappointed. This is a strong recommendation from me.

(P. S. I totally agree that digital is like fast food and the old tube radios and receivers are fine dining! Excellent analogy.)

How to get away with murder...with just a little bit of decent script writing

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 4 June 2018]

A wedding groom goes missing on his wedding day and he is never to be seen again for some 30 years and no one seems to care anymore. That is until our antiques dealer/amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon (Lori Loughlin) visits an estate sale and finds the brides wedding dress with some blood in one of the bride's dress pockets.

So the mystery begins with enough suspects to record a new Guinness Book record for the amount of people who can be stuffed into a Volkswagen car. So where was the missing bridegroom stuffed? Not in that Volkswagen that is for sure.

Jennifer's also dealing with two family matters. Her daughter's boyfriend is looking at a distance relationship and if it can survive their young love, and Jennifer's own marriage is near to another anniversary date but her workaholic husband seems to be distracted with his business to realize their wedding anniversary is just around the corner with no plan in site to celebrate their (not so?) memorable wedding date.

One of the suspects is the still very attractive 64 year old Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels TV 1977-1981) who plays the stood up at the altar and wealthy bride Helen Whitney Carter, that fateful day some 30 years prior. Although the writing of this made for TV movie seems to take the long way around to find out what really happened to our missing bride groom the real mystery would be how sloppy the absent police department would have had to be if this story was even vaguely possible.

Mrs. Shullivan and I both liked the film and especially the recovery ending even though the story was quite winding and a bit troublesome to think that the police department could not have achieved what our amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon accomplished all on her own with just her good looks and wholesome charm.

I give this chapter of the Garage Sale Mystery series a more than decent 7 out of 10. Just remember that this mystery film is not developed with a blockbuster Hollywood budget so manage your expectations and like Mrs. Shullivan and I, you will not be disappointed.

pretty good, given what it is

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 29 May 2016]

The Garage Sale Mysteries, like many Hallmark mysteries, are for light watching and mild entertainment. This is unlike, say, the Hallmark Christmas films, which are awful.

I love seeing the antiques and collectibles featured on the shows, and the cast is likable. These films also move a little better than others on the network.

In this one, Wedding Dress, the shop owners Jennifer and Dani (Lori Loughlin and Sarah Strange) find a vintage wedding dress from 1979 at an estate sale. Given the styles back then, I rather doubt it was a real vintage dress - guess the set dresser couldn't find one. On investigation, they learn the groom disappeared during the reception and was never seen again.

They meet the bride, Helen (Cheryl Ladd), and Jennifer becomes involved in the mystery.

These are usually easy to figure out - this one was slightly more intriguing.

The thing about anything Lifetime or Hallmark is you have to know what you're getting into and take it for what it is: made in Canada without big budgets and a mostly Canadian cast with one American TV or soap star, and not particularly well directed.

On that basis, Garage Sale Mysteries are a slight cut above the norm.

One of the better Garage Sale Mystery Series ......

[cekadah · 6/10 · 17 October 2015]

........ but with a sloppy sappy whitewashed ending. Why did Director: Peter DeLuise , end this episode with that goofy oh so feel good ending? I found the buildup in solving the wedding dress mystery very absorbing and well written as Jennifer Shannon brings the events together on that day in 1979 in line with her inquisitive research.

Her deductive reasoning while evaluating the evidence she finds added a more than usual interest to this episode. Then when the two principle characters confess to the detective what happened the day of the wedding I was expecting a deeper secret to come to light after 36 years had past. Such as a hidden affair between the socially prominent bride of that day and the lesser prominent auto garage repair owner.

But no! Hallmark threw in the sugar coating and nostalgia and everybody goes home happy and pleased. That just ruined the mystery for me.

Best of the series

[jwayne_24 · 10 September 2015]

I have watched all of the Garage Sale Mystery films so far and although I liked them all, this one was my favorite by far. I must have seen something these other reviewers didn't, but I really enjoyed watching The Wedding Dress. Lori Loughlin was great as Jennifer Shannon, and there was nothing cold or cruel about her, imo. And, I did not find her smile distracting, I thought it was nice. Also, I thought the secondary plot between her daughter and the boyfriend was a very welcome addition to the story. Yes, the ending was predictable, but come on, its Hallmark! All in all, a very enjoyable film, that IS worth watching. My grade: B+.

Ending killed it for me...

[Design88 · 6/10 · 13 March 2023]

I hadn't seen this one in the series before and I did enjoy watching the solution unfold. It was a little different to the others as the subplots were more prominent and detracted from Jennifer's hubby finding out what she was up to this time. I do think Jennifer was harsh with Tyler who wanted to share his excitement at their dinner table of winning an opportunity to go to China on an exchange year. Just because her young daughter thought he was going to propose, she selfishly acted like a prat about it instead of being happy for him. Mum was annoyed at hubby for forgetting their Wedding Anniversary so maybe that contributed to her being rather cruel to Tyler and almost supporting his indecision about going after all. She, of all people, would recognize her daughter was far too young to put love before this boy's incredible opportunity.

But there were major problems with the main plot too. Strangely, we are privy to the fact that there has been a concealed murder in the opening minutes. To the movie's credit it didn't detract from the enjoyment of trying to solve the mystery of what happened.

Frank and the police department were particularly dumb and disinterested about this mystery. Not sure if it was because it was a cold case but, as Jennifer pointed out, there's no time limit on murder. Obviously, the original police investigation was rubbish when it took very little effort for Jennifer to figure it out. Of course, she is psychic so that helps.

The main problem with the original lack of police success is that you'd think the rich families would have expected every stone unturned and they certainly could have searched for blood. Actually, there ought to have been a lot more and Ted would have been covered in blood and been unable to slide into the reception. If she helped to drag his body to the cabinet then she'd probably be coveted in blood too.

The excuse for the lack of police intervention in the present being 'no body no crime' is pretty weak and more especially that 'no one wants to see such a prominent humanitarian be found guilty of murder'. Really?

They tie up the two subplots well although it was obvious all along that her hubby hadn't forgotten their anniversary but how it transpired was sweet.

The real problem for me that lost the movie its better rating was the ending. I couldn't believe it and it prompted me to write the review. My first thought was how could they justify no trial or conviction or accountability especially for his family's closure. We even met his sister and saw how affected she'd been not knowing anything all these years. Using a lie detector wasn't a sure fire way to prove which one did it and they were both guilty of covering up their crime, hiding the body and later disposing of it. He may have even been still alive when dragged into the closet and they chose not to report it. How the police didn't spot it was pretty lame. And we only have their word for it that they weren't having an affair and that her hubby was trying to kill Ted when she stabbed him.

Then, to make the ending even worse we see visiting with Jennifer and them romantically starting over and wandering off hand in hand into the distance as the couple they really should have always been with a flashback of them hand in hand in love as they were in 1979. Who thought of this ending? They both needed to go to jail for their crimes but then Jennifer would have opened a can of worms with her snooping this time and the "nice couple" would have been convicted. C'est la vie.

The WRONG Wedding Dress - It's a Mystery

[creekdogs · 6/10 · 28 August 2015]

It's a mystery why NOBODY figured out the wedding dress in question is from present day - not 1979!! What were they thinking?? Somebody truly should be fired for such a HUGE blunder . . . I was so happy that it was burned in the movie:) And by the way, I liked Rick Ravanello in the role as the husband - not sure why they let him go.

I also wish they would film in actual old houses once in awhile - not all cookie cutter Pottery Barn style houses.

At least these movies are WAY better than the insipid Aurora Teagarden movies . . .Candace Cameron Bure is awful in these (and her blindingly white teeth!) Actually Lori Laughlin could bring it down a notch in the white teeth category. I don't know if actors know how distracting it is when all you can concentrate on is their Chiclets teeth!

a good addition to the series

[jml1988 · 6/10 · 3 December 2019]

This mystery had me guessing until the end. It was sad but the truth all came out in a beautiful way.

The Wedding Dress

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 2 July 2023]

Jennifer finds an old but expensive wedding dress in a box of clothes purchased at an estate sale. She finds a blood stain on a pocket and investigation turns up Helen Carter, the bride, together with the story that the groom disappeared between the wedding and the reception after the wedding. Jennifer doggedly pursues the mystery and, using Luminol, determines that there were still blood stains inside a closet in the storage room of the church. The killer is soon unveiled...

A little farfetched in how Jenn tracks the wedding dress to a bride ( Cheryl Ladd) but a fairly diverting mystery, which doesn't always tread a typical mystery path. It's entertaining, as in most Garage Sale Mystery.

Not very memorable

[MickyG333 · 6/10 · 7 May 2023]

6.4 stars.

To me this story was quite forgettable. The movie itself is not bad, the main plot of murder and mystery and all that it's meant to represent is just very plain. The side stories of family and friends which are actually the aspect that makes this a good series, are entertaining enough for me to award this over 6.0. The mystery plot was bland, so I have nothing much to say but that I have made better use of my time on many occasions. It was difficult to stay interested, and I'm not sure I can point a finger at one specific reason. Give it a try if you want to be completest in your personal reviews of Hallmark mystery movies.

Where is the justice?

[bookandcandle · 1/10 · 17 April 2016]

I have watched all of the Garage Sale Mystery movies and I loved them all, except this one. The first Garage Sale Mystery had the best cast. I don't know why they changed the daughter, husband and son in the latter movies. It is not the same when a family you have followed throughout all of a sudden has different actors, when the initial ones were perfect together.

The problem I have with The Wedding Dress Garage Sale Mystery is that the murdered man is never found for so many years, yet the murderer goes unpunished with a happy ending. Did anyone think about the family of the victim not knowing where their relative was or what happened to him? This is so callously left out of the movie. Did they even care that the family of the victim would suffer not knowing where he was and what happened to him?

This movie had a very disappointing and unjustified ending. There was no accountability for the deception and murder. They just go happily on their way like they did nothing wrong, while the murder remained unsolved all those years and they knew they did it. Terrible Hallmark judgment here. No accountability or justice with the victim's family still not knowing what happened to their son.

Hot over a cold case

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 17 July 2017]

I was terribly disappointed in this Garage Sale Mystery. The Wedding Dress brought no closure to the blood family of a victim who disappeared 36 years earlier between the wedding and the reception. Even Britney Spears did not have a marriage that short.

This all begins when Lori Loughlin gets a wedding dress at a garage sale, a really fancy one that the bride told her maid to burn. But with a designer label on it the maid puts it away and now it's part of a garage sale where Loughlin and her sidekick Sarah Strange pick it up.

The woman who had it was a deserted bride and now is played by Cheryl Ladd. She could have become a 20th century Miss Favesham but instead became a big charity mover and shaker. Her husband's family hired detectives and neither they or the police could solve it.

But in that dress was a hidden pocket which contained a handkerchief of dried blood. Of course the victim's type and Loughlin now really thinking foul play, who wouldn't?

From a mystery we go to a romance akin to what the young folks had on the sinking Titanic.

I'm disappointed that Hallmark chose such a ridiculous romantic ending. Truth be told Loughlin has no real evidence on which a murder case could be based. Still there's a dead man who ought to get some justice.

A disappointment (but what did I expect?)

[LauraAnnG · 16 August 2015]

We all know these Hallmark movies (whether mystery or romance or combination thereof) are uneven qualitatively. Some are worse than others, and this one is pretty bad.

I was motivated to watch it for a couple of reasons. First, I am an admirer of Peter Deluise. He directed and/or wrote some of my most favorite Stargate SG1 episodes (I still mourn the loss of SG1). So I figured that some of Peter's directorial brilliance shown in SG1 (I was going to name a few episodes here but really, there are just too many to choose from!) would surely shine through in this movie.

Second, it has Steve Bacic in it. He brilliantly played Camulus, a Goa'uld System Lord in SG1. Those Goa'uld characters are way, way fun. And I was interested in seeing him again.

So, yeah, there's that. Then there's the fact it is the dog days of summer. Too hot to go out. To hot to do anything. So a nice, mindless movie was just the thing.

But this movie is terrible. Granted I've not seen other movies in the series. Not that it matters. I can hit the ground running as well as the next guy, and besides, these tend to not be too intellectually challenging.

But let's get it out in the open -- I don't like Lori Loughlin. She is cold and has an almost cruel look on her face most of the time. I sense no warmth or humanity emanating from her. The story line about her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend just made me roll my eyes. Seriously? You're going to harshly admonish the poor boy for making a mistake at the dinner table? Plus, she plays nasty games of "if you don't know I'm not going to tell you" with her husband. Gak.

In fact all the characters seem highly stereotypical, and frankly uninteresting. The ditzy, goofy friend. The inept police detective. The irritating, clueless daughter (really?! she's a college junior and she's still living at home? KMN!). And, sadly, the annoying and deceptive husband (oh Steve Bacic! What have they done to you?).

The mystery itself was pretty one-dimensional, its outcome foreseeable. They try to shake it up a bit at the end, but even that was predictable (if not judicially disturbing).

I just don't know. Clearly these movies are made for a different segment of the population. I kept thinking about the amazing international mysteries I've seen out of Scandinavia (for example), and there's no comparison. They are better in every way imaginable. This movie was a waste of time to watch. I should have done laundry instead.

I honestly can't think of one positive thing to say about the movie. I didn't give it a 0 out of respect for Deluise and Bacic. I want to pull out my SG1 DVDs.

Very poor...seems like small town actors and contrived script

[watusi-34069 · 1/10 · 5 August 2017]

The thing that really got me was the use of Lie Detector tests to climax the mystery. This was written and acted by people dedicated to Dr Phil programs. In fact Lie Detectors can be very unreliable and are not admissible in a true court of law and, at best, can only indicate some evasion to answering specific questions, despite what Dr Phil says. They do not indicate guilt. Very contrived story and disappointing...only watched it through because my Wife was watching it.

Not very good

[wjspears · 5/10 · 8 February 2022]

I found this episode of Garage Sale Mystery to be a step down from previous episodes, especially the last one--"The Deadly Room".

The writers continue to have the secondary characters behaving in ways that make no logical sense. This is particularly the case with Jennifer (Lori Loughlin) and the lead Detective, Detective Frank Lynwood (Kevin O'Grady).

A groom disappeared from his wedding back in 1979. Jennifer, in an estate sale has found the bride's wedding dress. Because it is an expensive original dress, Jennifer attempts to track down who the bride is. Being successful she learns about the mysterious disappearance, and then finds a handkerchief with dried blood on it, inside a pocket of the dress.

Asking Detective Lynwood to look into the cold case of the groom's disappearance, he reveals, at lunch, that the case was never solved. Jennifer reveals the handkerchief with blood that she found inside the wedding dress, and the detective shrugs, saying that the DA office has a saying, "no body, no crime", even though he admits that there was no mention of the bloody handkerchief in the police report at the time. The writers are making Detective Frank Lynwood either remarkably stupid or just lazy.

In either case, it is a boring portrayal, that harkens back to some of the worst aspects of 1970s and 80s private eye shows--where police are shown to be obstructionist at best, and inept, and corrupt at worst.

Jennifer's husband, Jason (Steve Bacic) is still visibly disapproving of Jennifer's detecting instincts--to the point that Jennifer keeps what she is doing from her husband, rather than have to deal with his scolding. Another tiresome and repetitive plot device that detracts from the enjoyment of the mystery.

Finally, as other reviewers have mentioned, the ending suggests that the bride acted in defense of another, but still, the unresolved fate of the groom must have caused significant trauma for the groom's family. The resolution dreamed up by the writers is astonishingly neglectful of that aspect of the old murder.

A not very satisfying episode, I'm afraid, of Garage Sale Mysteries.

Garage Sale Mystery: The Wedding Dress

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 5/10 · 26 February 2021]

5/10 - flawed mystery makes for the weakest entry in the Garage Sale Mystery series so far